Beauford Delaney – Villa Albertine Grant

The new Beauford Delaney – Villa Albertine grant program is inscribed within the partner institutions’ broader initiative to promote African-American artists in France and its goal is to explore and lead to a better understanding of the practices of artists whose work has been underrepresented in art history. It also seeks to highlight these artists’ individuality and relationship with the complex global historical art landscape. Named after famous American painter Beauford Delaney (1901-1979), this grant is designed for art historians, either French or international, who are working in France and wish to conduct original research on African-American art.

The research projects can focus on any African American artists who are living or lived in the 19th through 21st centuries. The projects should consider the artists in the context of the global artistic and cultural practices of the time, taking into account transnational circulation, transfer, and contact zones. The primary objective is to understand the practice of artists who are little—or not at all—studied, even less in France than elsewhere, in their plural singularities and in their relationship to a complex and global history of art.

Characteristics of the Grant 

The Beauford Delaney – Villa Albertine Research Grant is intended to fund one recipient per year. 

The winner will receive a $20,000 grant to be used during the 12 months following the announcement of his or her selection. During this time, the researcher will be able to conduct fieldwork, i.e., to study archival and documentary holdings and works of art, and, if applicable, to meet with living artists, curators, art historians, collectors, etc. in the United States and elsewhere. At the end of the fellowship or during the fellowship year, he or she will produce a tangible work (article, book chapter, exhibition, book, doctoral dissertation) and present the project and the results of the research at the invitation of the institutions that fund it (conference, debate, interview, etc.). 

Where applicable, INHA will host the fellow as a visiting scholar according to the relevant rules within its institute and, where applicable, according to a predefined schedule in the contract issued. 

This is a grant and not an employment contract. The scholarship is not exclusive of other sources of income. The recipient agrees to submit a report twelve months after the award to defend the use of the funds allocated. The institutions reserve the right to request reimbursement if the planned project is not carried out. 

Elibigility 

This grant is addressed, without regard to nationality and alternating every year, to: 

• art historians who are active in France, whether independent or attached to institutions (universities, museums, art schools, etc.), with a doctorate or equivalent professional experience, excluding US citizens who have completed their studies in the United States. 
• students who are completing their master’s degree or who are already enrolled in a doctoral program at a French university, or junior professionals (under 30 years of age) working in France, excluding US citizens who have studied in the United States. 

The application (in French and English) must include: 

• A cover letter addressed to the Director General of INHA and to the Director of Studies and Research of INHA; 
• A curriculum vitae; 
• A detailed work program (6 pages maximum) in French and English, including a summary of the project, the state of the art, the methodology, and the objective (writing a book, a thesis, an article, etc.), as well as a provisional calendar of the planned research visits (precise indication of sources, collections, works to be seen, artists and other individuals to be met, etc.) and an indication of the budget required (in USD) to carry them out. A bibliography indicating the sources to be consulted will complete this file. 

Candidates will be selected on the basis of their application. 

The selection jury will be composed of the Director General of the INHA and the Director of the Department of Studies and Research of the INHA, a representative for FACE Foundation or Villa Albertine, as well as two qualified individuals, one of whom will be a specialist in African-American art. The jury will meet once a year to select the winning entry. 

The selection criteria used to evaluate the applications will be the excellence and relevance of the project. 

Contact: Olivier Le Falher, Program Officer, Visual Arts  

Visualarts@face-foundation.org